4738. EBB to Eliza Anne Ogilvy
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 144–148.
Villa Alberti– Siena.
Sept. 12. [1860] [1]
My dear friend, how good you have been & are. I thank you deeply both for my poor Wilson & myself– You have obliged both of us, & made her very very happy—which will be a joy to your kind generous sympathetical nature–
I perfectly agreed with you before, & we both did “right to be angry”– The Wilsons were very provoking .. & so was my Wilson here—who being always weak in character showed a peculiar degree of weakness in not being resolute about the child– I do believe, poor thing, she would give up child or husband to anyone who knew how to set about wringing them out of her, & certainly her letters to her family must have encouraged them to assume that attitude of choice & possession .. as if the boy belonged to them & not to his own mother–
Well—it is settled, thank God– Ferdinando will be down at Leghorn to meet Gigia, & if she likes to come back with him here, we shall be very glad to see her– Dont fear about bibles– She might bring a bundle of bibles if she pleased, & nobody object– You forget that we are free Italy now– I wish I were as sure that she would have no trouble at the custom-office about her dresses—but I hear great complaints of the vexations heaped upon travellers through an incompleted organization, which is taken advantage of by persons in office– Ferdinando however will be there, & we must hope for the best.
I write at once, when I might wait till over Saturday—but I feel just now as if I lived only from day to day (from post to post) and as if I dared not put off the duty & desire of thanking you for your goodness to us. Of course you shall hear of Gigia if I am alive enough to write—or indeed she will write herself– Mr Ogilvy has been luxuriously good (I mean to a superfluity) in escorting her to Marseilles. I should not be at all afraid (helpless as I am) to travel across France by myself, & I know young English girls who do it without a fear–
Dearest Mrs Ogilvy, my last account from Taunton was slightly improved—but it does not seem to me to amount to more than fluctuation,—though the least breath of a word about diminished pain soothes the burning at the heart which devours me– May God’s mercy relieve me & all of us– My anxiety is, on some days, (when letters are expected) dreadful– At other times, I feel patient under the weight of a stone—and that is my best state– Oh—most of all, my dear dear friend, I thank you for your prayers–
Let us talk of Italy. You are worthy to know the truth, and yet it seems to me that you are much in the dark. The people are acting admirably, .. miraculously, .. considering their past– There has been some attempted revival of the Mazzinian party, but they were forced to mask to get a hearing, .. & being then unmasked by the government, were repudiated by the majority instantly– The sympathy of the nation (even at places like Leghorn & Genoa) goes right against them,—& now that the government moves openly towards the approaching crisis, their small degree of power is at an end–
Be sure that we have nothing to apologize for in Italy– No people, however educated, could have acted better. I dont speak here of Sicilians & Neapolitans. Things & men were alike rotten in those states [2] —to speak generally, that is– At best, there was a great blind aspiration—but no settled conviction– How could there? The Neapolitans are what we remember all the Italians in forty-eight– Garibaldi’s progress has been just a triumph– He touched the fruit with a finger, & it fell. There has been no earnest fighting except in Sicily—& even there, the king’s troops were not reliable for the king. How could they? Garibaldi is a true hero, & a great military genius– But you are late in England in giving us your sympathy– The Italian question was settled militarily in the north, & civilly in the centre—and the south was only a question of time–
Then .. what can you mean by talking of Lamoricière on the walls of Rome– Lamoricière has nothing to do with the walls of Rome– The French keep Rome & have nothing in common with Lamoricière (so little, that Lamoricière is where he is, only to be in opposition to the emperor)—and no Italian (not even Mazzini, who in his late address protested that he did not think of it) could propose to lead Italians against the French– [3] Why, you would start as at a revelation, if you could conceive of the feeling of the Italians to the French & especially to Napoleon– Count Gori (senatore del regno) said to a friend of mine yesterday .. “But you dont understand– The French are at Rome for us– They must be there while Austria holds Venetia–” Matteucci (a chief man among the Tuscan leaders, & who has been a member of Deputations to Paris and of councils in Florence) considers that the emperor’s personal feeling for Italy has been constant. And nothing has been more beautiful & admirable to me than the stedfast gratitude & faith of this formerly suspicious people towards France, notwithstanding the enormous calumnies & misrepresentations sent in upon us on all sides–
The newspapers are excellently conducted– You would scarcely believe you were reading Italian newspapers, if you could see the Nazione of Florence, the Opinione of Turin & others. There is strength & moderation, largeness & temper– The issimo [4] is in abeyance– A great nation is rising to its feet here, & there is no need of allowances or of pardon–
But it is a time of crisis– Private cares have been broken through for me by the press of public events on all sides– For a week past (for instance) there has been scarcely a possibility of private travelling on the railroads, (I hope they may be clear for Gigia) the passage of troops having been incessant– The King takes Naples from the hands of Garibaldi [5] —that’s certain—but also so is the invasion of the Pontifical States on the part of the King– [6] Underneath all, there remains a mystery .... if it is not the intervention of Austria who took heart at Töplitz too much.
There is little doubt that the word “Finiamo”, [7] came from Napoleon at Chambery– Farini, straight from his presence, came down into Tuscany– But L.N. is named as little as possible for obvious reasons– It is said to be impossible to make a revolution in white gloves—but at least some official decorum is necessary to avoid the European war, which threatens France & Italy, if France helps Italy–
If Austria attacks now, it may be the best for us. Not even Prussia can wonder if France returns to the overt assistance of her ally–
As to Rome .. let Rome remain an independent free municipality in the heart of free Italy, & the Italians would much prefer having the pope there than elsewhere– Some of them even venture to speculate on the “santo padre’s” coming to his senses so far as to open the gates of Rome to an Italian parliament, who might find it more convenient to assemble there. This seems to me pure dream-work. The pope will die obstinate—its a matter of martyrdom with him– But time will ripen this question like others,—& time too will open the gates of Rome & end the insulation of the city from the nation– Meanwhile we shall be patient. Violence cannot be applied here either by France or Italy—& only a protestant could suppose such an application desireable–
Let me tell you how right I think you have been about Gigia. Mrs Stowe said to me in Rome last spring—“I find it impossible to believe that God cares to what church a man belongs–” I entirely agreed with her– What is important is a man’s love of truth, & faithfulness to the truth he holds– She is a woman of remarkable largeness of mind & heart, especially considering the sectarian influences she was born & educated under–
For my part, protestants as a body seem to me about as full of error as the catholics are– The chief difference being that there’s a crevice in the protestant box. They hold their errors with a looser hand. Not that even this is a difference with all. Talking of “things unseen & eternal” [8] or at least mysterious, do you take in the Cornhill & did you read the article “Stranger than fiction” by Robert Bell? [9] The subject makes progress with the public, in spite of the ineffable follies of certain believers– There is (for instance) a small controversy going on in the Spiritual Magazine just now as to whether I (EBB) am or am not possessed of the Devil. [10] Mr Howitt thinks affirmatively– As for me, of course I have not an opinion. Only I should laugh .. if there was a laugh left in me at this point of time.
Oh my silver Penney– Yes, he’s a silver Penny– He goes under no other name but Penini .. declinable (tell Alexander) as Penini, Peni, Pen .. all over Florence & Rome, & in among the hills here– We’ve forgotten him as Wiedemann– He cries out every now & then that he ought to be called “Robert”—but I cant afford two Roberts—and then Peni is grown so dear.
It is kind of you to think of the photographs– I know how black & unfaithful such things can be, so I shall allow for all faults–
My dear little Louisa!– But she will fix steadily on her axle soon, & you will not be too anxious meanwhile– It is very usual for sensitive girls at her age to be not strong. If Mr Ogilvy had gone to America in your Great Eastern, [11] it might have done her immense good to go with him.
So you let Alexander shoot!– Take care. I think I do much in letting Peni ride.
With kisses to the children & love to dear Mr Ogilvy when you see him next, believe me
Your ever affectionate friend
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Will Mrs Ogilvy accept our affectionate remembrances?
Publication: EBB-EAHO, pp. 156–161.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
1. Year provided by EBB’s reference to the “small controversy going on” in The Spiritual Magazine (see letter 4737, note 6).
2. Cf. Hamlet, I, 4, 90: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
3. We have been unable to confirm EBB’s statement regarding Mazzini and the French. However, translations of extracts from his recent letter to L’Unità Italiana (Genoa) appeared in the British press about this time. In the extract published by The Morning Chronicle, Mazzini urged Garibaldi “to reject every proposal of truce or peace with the Bourbon, to employ all his force in the emancipation of the country, and to repel every species of annexation” (25 August 1860, p. 5).
4. Suffix for the superlative in Italian.
5. Garibaldi had taken Naples on 7 September; see letter 4725, note 7.
6. On 11 September 1860 Piedmontese forces under the command of General Manfredo Fanti (1806–65) crossed into Umbria near Sansepolcro and into The Marches at Cattolica. A week later at Castelfidardo, just to the south of Ancona, an army corps, led by General Enrico Cialdini (1811–92), defeated Lamoricière’s vastly outnumbered papal troops, most of whom surrendered or fled.
7. “Let’s finish [this].”
8. Cf. II Corinthians 4:18.
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